For colleges to work, there has to be a figure of authority and knowledge. There has to be someone whose expertise on a subject goes unquestioned.’
This trust in someone’s knowledge is not about learning, it is about getting a passing grade. This authority is never to be questioned, because it is what determines what will be on a test. Wikipedia lacks credibility.
Wikipedia causes problems in the classroom. The multilingual encyclopedia project launched in 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger has compiled more than three million English language articles, and it uses an open-editing model called ‘wiki.”
This means that every article can be edited anonymously. There are only a few exceptions to this editing style, one of which is when a page is prone to vandalism.’
When this occurs, only an administrator or an established user can edit the article. Only members can create pages, but no one member owns any page. Instead, pages are owned by a community of editors. However, a recognized authority on the subject does not critically examine these articles.
Vandalism is not the only problem that Wikipedia faces. Its biggest problem is the lack of respect it receives from the academic community.’
Wikipedia has been kicked out of the classroom because of its easy editing process. With no clear authority backing up claims made on the different pages, it will never have a place of respect among academics. Without an authoritative figure as the source, the amount of truth in the information comes into question.
If the figure of authority in a classroom has a problem with Wikipedia’s reputation, they can become one of the contributing editors of Wikipedia.’
If the professor is an expert, they have a responsibility to uphold that knowledge. They also have the ability to make a much larger number of people conform to what is considered to be the truth. The truth, however, is that no one has total authority, and no one is above being questioned.
Instead of telling people that Wikipedia is not trustworthy, others need to be given the tools to figure out for themselves why it isn’t dependable. Students need to be taught how to interpret all of this incoming information.
A lack of credibility is the real problem with Wikipedia. Teachers want trust; the Internet wants to give us information.’
This information is scary because the majority of us don’t know what to do with it.’
The Internet gives us the ability to question authority, and this is the problem that colleges face when it comes to something like Wikipedia.’
It threatens the current system of obtaining knowledge. This is why it will never be respected in the classroom; it contradicts the classroom system.
